Matthew 27:33-44

27:33 They ¹  came to a place called Golgotha ²  (which means “Place of the Skull”) ³  27:34 and offered Jesus ⁴  wine mixed with gall to drink. ⁵  But after tasting it, he would not drink it. 27:35 When ⁶  they had crucified ⁷  him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice. ⁸  27:36 Then they sat down and kept guard over him there. 27:37 Above ⁹  his head they put the charge against him, ¹⁰  which read: ¹¹  “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” 27:38 Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 27:39 Those ¹²  who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ¹³  If you are God’s Son, come down ¹⁴  from the cross!” 27:41 In ¹⁵  the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law ¹⁶  and elders ¹⁷  – were mocking him: ¹⁸  27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ¹⁹  now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now ²⁰  because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” 27:44 The ²¹  robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ²² 

Luke 23:27-33

23:27 A great number of the people followed him, among them women ²³  who were mourning ²⁴  and wailing for him. 23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ²⁵  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves ²⁶  and for your children. 23:29 For this is certain: ²⁷  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ²⁸  23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ²⁹  ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ³⁰  23:31 For if such things are done ³¹  when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² 

23:32 Two other criminals ³³  were also led away to be executed with him. 23:33 So ³⁴  when they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” ³⁵  they crucified ³⁶  him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

[27:33]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:33]  ² tn This is an Aramaic name; see John 19:17.

[27:33]  ³ sn A place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). This location is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for the Greek term κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” is derived (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[27:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:34]  ⁵ sn It is difficult to say for certain who gave Jesus this drink of wine mixed with gall (e.g., the executioner, or perhaps women from Jerusalem). In any case, whoever gave it to him most likely did so in order to relieve his pain, but Jesus was unwilling to take it.

[27:35]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:35]  ⁷ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[27:35]  ⁸ tn Grk “by throwing the lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throwing dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling. According to L&N 6.219 a term for “dice” is particularly appropriate.

[27:37]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:37]  ¹⁰ sn Mention of the inscription is an important detail, because the inscription would normally give the reason for the execution. It shows that Jesus was executed for claiming to be a king. It was also probably written with irony from the executioners’ point of view.

[27:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “was written.”

[27:39]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:40]  ¹³ sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.

[27:40]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy^[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א² B L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA²⁷ puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[27:41]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:41]  ¹⁶ tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[27:41]  ¹⁷ tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.

[27:41]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”

[27:42]  ¹⁹ tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.

[27:43]  ²⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.

[27:44]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:44]  ²² sn Matthew’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).

[23:27]  ²³ sn The background of these women is disputed. Are they “official” mourners of Jesus’ death, appointed by custom to mourn death? If so, the mourning here would be more pro forma. However, the text seems to treat the mourning as sincere, so their tears and lamenting would have been genuine.

[23:27]  ²⁴ tn Or “who were beating their breasts,” implying a ritualized form of mourning employed in Jewish funerals. See the note on the term “women” earlier in this verse.

[23:28]  ²⁵ sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

[23:28]  ²⁶ sn Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41-44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person – they should be mourning for themselves.

[23:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “For behold.”

[23:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”

[23:30]  ²⁹ sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).

[23:30]  ³⁰ sn An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).

[23:31]  ³¹ tn Grk “if they do such things.” The plural subject here is indefinite, so the active voice has been translated as a passive (see ExSyn 402).

[23:31]  ³² sn The figure of the green wood and the dry has been variously understood. Most likely the picture compares the judgment on Jesus as the green (living) wood to the worse judgment that will surely come for the dry (dead) wood of the nation.

[23:32]  ³³ tc The text reads either “two other criminals” or “others, two criminals.” The first reading (found in Ì⁷⁵ א B) could be read as describing Jesus as a criminal, while the second (found in A C D L W Θ Ψ 070 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï) looks like an attempt to prevent this identification. The first reading, more difficult to explain from the other, is likely original.

[23:33]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the preceding material.

[23:33]  ³⁵ sn The place that is called ‘The Skull’ (known as Golgotha in Aramaic, cf. John 19:17) is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” derives (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[23:33]  ³⁶ sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.